September Mediterranean Magic Trip Report updated 10/25/2017 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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While I was flying in, mom was exploring the Philly airport which is actually really nice and has a lot of art and interesting things to look at in addition to quite some shopping
She was also busy checking out the scene if we could get a new FitBit in the airport, the answer - yes! There were vending machines as well as several stores that had a nice little selection of electronics and she sneakily had them hide the one she thought I would like
That was our first stop to go get that purchase made and then figure out where we needed to go. We actually didn’t have a super long layover (well I didn’t at least) so we didn’t have a ton of downtime to dilly-dally.
Once we had that squared away we headed off to the A (International) Terminal to wait out our 45ish minutes until boarding. There was a Vino Volo nearby so that’s where we decided to head. We knew there would be food on the flight, but just weren’t sure the quality so wanted to make sure we had a bit of substance in us just to be on the safe side.
I set up a little charging station to get my Fitbit going...
And of course… we had to have some wine too!
Unfortunately the service was severely lacking here. By the time our waitress even came back it was too late to think we’d be eating there, but thankfully they offer their entire menu to go! We settled our bill and headed over to our gate for boarding to begin. We probably took a bio break at this point as well.
There’s our big plane!
We had paid for a “premium” seat selection so we were on the left side where there were only two seats across which was lovely. Since I have the AAdvantage Visa we were Boarding Group 1 and were getting on the plane in no time. Once we settled in and figured out what we wanted at our feet versus overhead (ample overhead room!) we pulled our food out.
The portions were disappointingly small for the price paid. I think about $15 for a small bowl of mac and cheese - think appetizer size, which is what I got and mom got a sandwich for about the same price which came with no sides. It was fine, we just needed a nibble but I felt a little jipped. Also I was apparently starving so for once I don’t have any food pics
Our flight took off on time and mom and I decided to settle in with The Boss and as always it’s a bit of a struggle to try to sync up those headrest TVs, but we got it pretty close. We were barely into the movie when dinner was served. The options were pasta or chicken. We went with one of each.
It was chicken with potatoes and veggies and tortellini and red sauce. Neither very exciting but neither bad either. We enjoyed our meals and couldn’t finish all the side snacks they give with it! It was also nice that wine was complimentary so we enjoyed a glass or two here as well
After we enjoyed dinner we finished the movie and then it was time to try to catch some ZZZs. We put on some compression socks since we wouldn’t be walking around much and got a bit cozier. Last trip abroad I didn’t have much of a challenge but this year I really struggled with it. I think the flight was a bit shorter and I don’t know I just never fell into that solid sleep so I was in and out a lot watching Night at the Museum and re-runs of the Big Bang Theory. As soon as I felt like I was finally getting some rest, breakfast was served! Isn’t that always the case? Mom always has a hard time sleeping on flights but she managed better this time around!
Gorgeous sunrise out the window!
Nice little variety of options here.
We enjoyed breakfast and took a few more peeks out the window as we approached Spain and Barcelona! Of course there was tea and coffee to be consumed as well! Once they took the trash from breakfast I went and brushed my teeth and tried my best to wake up. In no time we would be arriving in a new country and ready to embark on our new adventure
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